Drought puts new focus on data centers' water use
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Richmond-area households aren't the only ones being asked to conserve water during the ongoing drought: data centers and other large industrial water users are also facing calls to cut back.
Why it matters: Public frustration over the drought has centered in part on data centers' water use, but local officials say data centers are also being asked to conserve — and aren't among the region's largest water consumers.
Driving the news: On July 1, officials asked residents of Richmond and its surrounding counties to scale back water use at home by taking shorter showers and adhering to a dusk-to-dawn, alternative-day lawn-watering schedule.
- The local call for voluntary water conservation followed a statewide ask from the governor a few weeks before.
- Data centers — and all water users — in the state and Richmond-area localities are included in the conservation efforts, officials told multiple media outlets.
Yes, but: Data centers aren't necessarily the biggest water users, as many assume they are, Axios' Amy Harder reports.
- The same is true in metro Richmond, including Henrico, which has the region's largest concentration of data centers.
Zoom in: In Henrico, apartment complexes and hospitals are the county's biggest water consumers, Henrico Department of Public Utilities director Bentley Chan told the Virginia Mercury.
- Food, drink and pharmaceutical producers also outrank data centers in water use, Chan told WTVR.
- In a statement to WTVR, trade group the Data Center Coalition said the industry is complying with all local governments' water restrictions.
Between the lines: The concerns about data centers' water use is largely a substitute for people's overall worries about the fast-growing industry, experts told Axios.
What we're watching: Virginians will have a much clearer picture of how much water data centers use — or conserve — in the coming months under a new state law.
- Starting in January, water providers (like the city) have to report how much water they supply to data centers.